June 01, 2007

Lebanese Army Hits Refugee Camp

At least nineteen people, including three Lebanese soldiers, died today when the army struck at the Nahr al-Bared camp in southern Lebanon. Militants loyal to al-Qaida have dug into the Palestinian camp in recent weeks, defending their positions and forcing the Lebanese army to battle them for control of the area.

Troops rolled closer to the camp in tanks today and fired on the Fatah al-Islam militants. A source from the group told Reuters that some positions had been ceded and that there was "widescale destruction in civilian areas."

The Lebanese army cannot legally enter any refugee camp according to the terms of a 1969 Arab agreement; today's fighting took place just outside the camp's borders. About 400,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon's 12 camps.

A temporary truce prompted last week's exodus of nearly half the camp's population to refugee camps in other parts of the country, but violence resumed in earnest this week. More than 80 people have already been killed in Lebanon's bloodiest internal fighting since the 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.

Posted at 4:00 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Lebanon, Terrorism
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